What To Do About Tantrums With Toddlers

What To Do About Tantrums With Toddlers

• Prevent them:
  • Keep rules simple. One thing at a time.
  • Be reasonable. How cooperative and patient are you when you are tired and hungry?
  • Pay attention to their needs.
  • Be positive.
  • Give toddlers 'help'. Show them how. They will be happier if they have something to do and reward them with your approval.
• Once a tantrum starts, don't waste your time with reasoning, bribery, threats or being out of control yourself.
• Ignore the behaviour. Don't yell or scream or show a lot of attention. When you do this they get the attention they need but in a negative way. If you fall for it once your toddler will use the same trick again and again.
• It is hard but the best thing to do when a tantrum is in full flow is WAIT! Ignore other people around you. Count to 10, keep calm. When the temper tantrum slows down you might:
  • hold and hug the child while talking soothingly
  • acknowledge their feelings and your own
  • find a solution which meets both your needs (go home; go for a walk; move on to something else).
• If the temper tantrum begins again, stop, wait and start again. If you can, give yourself and your toddler some 'time out'. This is when the child is safely isolated and given a chance to calm down; think about the behaviour and how upset they became; and about what happened and why.
• Once the tantrum has finished talk to your toddler in a calm and loving way.

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Department for Community Devlp, Australia.

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